By CountingPips.com
U.S. Pending Homes sales fell more than expected in the month of January, according to the monthly report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) today. The NAR report showed that pending home sales contracts signed by buyers fell by 7.6 percent in January following December’s 0.8 percent revised decrease. On an annual basis, pending 
home sales were still 8.8 percent above the January 2009 sales level.
The January’s sales decline was worse than the approximately 1.0 percent increase that the market forecasts were expecting.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented on recent pending home sales levels saying, “January pending sales, though still higher than one year ago, remain much lower than expected given that a large number of potential buyers are eligible for the expanded home buyer tax credit. Moreover, the abnormally severe and prolonged winter weather, which affected large regions of the U.S., hampered shopping activity in February.”
Pending home sales in the Northeast decreased by 8.7 percent in January while the Midwest saw a decline of 8.9 percent. Sales in the South edged down by 2.1 percent and sales in the West decreased by 13.2 percent for the month.
On an annual basis, all four areas were above the January 2009 sales level with the Northeast showing an annual gain of 20.5 percent, the Midwest showing a 11.8 percent annual rise, the South showing a 18.0 percent increase and the West showing a 1.4 percent annual advancement.
Weekly Jobless Claims fall by 29,000.
A separate government release by the U.S. Labor Department showed that weekly U.S. jobless claims decreased in the week that ended on February 27th. New jobless claims fell to a total of 469,000 unemployed workers, a decrease over the prior week by 29,000 workers. The 4-week moving average of unemployed workers fell by 3,500 from the prior week to a total of 470,750.
Meanwhile, workers seeking continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending February 20th also decreased for the week. Continuing claims fell by 134,000 workers to a total of 4,500,000 unemployed workers. The four week moving average of continuing claims dropped by 29,250 to 4,575,750.
